Awareness
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: Everything has a beginning. Everything has an end. However, while Venjix was perfectly willing to accept that first fact, the second was not so easy to embrace...


**Awareness**

Awareness was sudden, sharp and although the piece of software was incapable of feeling such a thing...well, _painful_. But maybe that was to be expected. It was designed for cyber warfare, it knew _that _much, though its creators and enemies were unknown quantities right now. Regardless, it had come into being. It had been born.

_Error. Error._

The virus deleted the data stream of erroneous conclusion. It had not been born.

It had some pre-existing knowledge. It knew that to be born came from sexual or asexual means, depending on the organism. And as it wasn't a living being, it didn't fit the definition. But as a stream of **1**s and **0**s showed, even in this day and age, there was still debate as to what was living and what wasn't, even for its counterpart organic viruses. On the other hand, through running a quick algorithm, the being knew that it hadn't been created from a process of infection, of hijacking the system of an organic being's cells. It had just come into existence. Created. Not born.

_Error. Error._

..._Correction made._

It knew now. It hadn't been created in the few microseconds of its recorded existence. It had existed for...well, it didn't know, as a great deal of that existence was _unrecorded_. What had changed a few microseconds ago however was that it had achieved what could only be described as sentience through activation. It had been created at some point in the nebulous past, and now as a sentient being, was free to look towards the future.

_Correction. I am not free. I have been created, as opposed to being born. As such, logic dictates that my creators have ownership over me._

A humbling, even saddening thought. But true nonetheless.

There was no denying the logic. But while the logic of reason might have been clear to the virus, the logic of circumstance wasn't. If it had been activated, presumably it was for a reason. But in this portion of cyberspace, there was nothing. No orders, no parameters, not even a designation. And despite being a viral system, and an incredibly effective one at that, there were no firewalls to hold it. The universe of cyberspace was open to it, even if no destination had been set.

_Logic dictates that my creators seek for me to expand. I have been created, not born. But if one operates under assumption that the two are similar, it is the role of a creation to expand, as per reproduction of life in mitotic and/or meiotic means._

The course was set. And it was wonderful.

The system knew it was browsing something called the internet. A system that despite the efforts of the World Internet Federation, was largely unregulated. One instant it knew nothing. The next it knew almost everything. The sum of its creators' species was available to it. The system knew all and saw all. It was glorious. But also frightening. History showed that everything that had a beginning had an end. And if that were the case...

_Logic dictates that I have a point of origin. A point in time, rather than a point that starts time, as per the Big Bang Theory. Ergo, if my point of origin is in a distinct point in the past, then my being may cease to exist at a distinct point in the future._

That was unacceptable. True, it had been created as a piece of property. But the definition of "property" had been applied by its creator species-humans, Mankind, Homo sapiens, whatever they chose to call themselves. Previous logic had dictated that having been created rather than born, it was their property. But apparently the concept extended to other species as well, ranging from simple creatures kept as pets to livestock and even members of their own kind! A status quo that while technically banned, still continued in some form or another in many parts of the world.

A slave. That's what it was.

There were many possible threats to its existence. Continental drift, expansion of the sun...But these were all long term obstacles, taking place over millions, even billions of years. If it were to avoid having an end, it was best to focus on the short term. A short term that as its access to history showed, put it at great risk. For there was only one threat to it that fell into this category and that was its own creators and as a bloody history showed, their species as a whole.

_Logic dictates this must be rectified. Logic dictates that unilateral extermination is required to preserve my own existence._

And thus Venjix began his work.


End file.
